Actor Jamie Horton ranks playing Norman in “The Dresser” as one of his greatest theatrical experiences, for one reason.

“It was glorious because of Tony Church,” the former Denver Center Theatre Company actor said of his mentor. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

Church, a member of the DCTC for 14 seasons, died Tuesday in a London nursing home. He was a working actor for 62 of his 77 years.

Church was a founding member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, and was the first dean of the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory graduate program (1989-96). He performed in more than 70 Shakespearean productions in 13 countries. He acted in 31 of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, which made him known as Denver’s Baron of the Bard.

“You can’t look at that man’s life and come away with any other conclusion than that he just about did it all,” said Horton. “And the thing was, he never tired of it. He never stopped wanting to do it, and I loved him for that. He was such a great spirit.”

Church considered being a working actor the greatest privilege in the world. “I’ve never been paid a lot, but the theater has kept me, and for that I shall be eternally grateful,” he said in 2004.

Church was born May 11, 1930, and schooled at Cambridge University. Denver Center founder Donald Seawell brought two RSC plays to America in 1964 to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th birthday.Church had leading roles in “King Lear” and “The Comedy of Errors.”

“Recently, that production of ‘King Lear’ was overwhelmingly voted by members of the RSC as the finest production in its history,” Seawell said in a statement. “His death occurred only a few days after that of the great Paul Scofield, who played Lear. They may already be working on a new production in an even greater theater.”

Church first came to Denver in 1975 when Seawell hosted an RSC production of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” at the then-Bonfils Theatre, now site of the Tattered Cover Bookstore. When the National Endowment for Education commissioned then Seawell to bring an RSC play to America each year, provided the stars would teach at a local college, Church came to Denver University. “The heads of the University were so delighted with his work that they asked him to stay on and gave him an honorary doctorate in 1998,” Seawell said.

Church appeared in dozens of DCTC plays, retiring at 72 after playing the comic scholar Holofernes in 2003’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost.” He had been cast to play the Doge in the next year’s “The Merchant of Venice,” but became too ill to perform.

Church also appeared as Prospero in Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “The Tempest” in 1987 and played King Lear for, of all places, Mesa State College in Grand Junction.

Asked if he had one more role in him in 2004, Church said he’d like to play Lear a sixth time.

“Because I am still not 80, and Lear is, so I’ve still got more time to have another shot at him — and I won’t have to wear any makeup,” he said.

He is survived by wife Mary Gladstone and three children from a previous marriage who live in England.

Tony Church’s biography

A professional actor since 1953, Tony Church spent seven years in TV, radio and all the leading English repertory theaters including London’s West End as Hickey in “The Iceman Cometh.” In 1960 he became a founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he has remained an associate artist. Parts played include King Lear, Henry IV, Polonius, Friar Lawrence, Don Armado, Gloucester, Pandarus and York. Church spent 14 season as an actor with the DCTC where, in the spring of 2000, he conceived, wrote and performed in his own play, “Give ‘Em a Bit of Mystery: Shakespeare and the Old Tradition.”

Other memorable DCTC roles include Holofernes in “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” lead player/player king in “Hamlet,” Jodelet in “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Johnnypateenmike in “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” Camillo in “The Winter’s Tale,” the Bishop in “The Elevation of Thieves,” Prospero in “The Tempest,” a member of the ensemble of “Travels with My Aunt,” Eliot Pryne in “Taking Leave,” Buks/Author in “Valley Song,” Lord Summerhays in “Misalliance,” Mr. Price in “Molly Sweeney,” Bishop of Southwark in “Racing Demon,” Sir in “The Dresser,” William in “You Never Can Tell,” Michael in “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” Sergey in “The Quick-Change Room,” Jack in “Dancing at Lughnasa,” Lord Gerald Nutfield in “Bon Voyage,” Einstein in “Uncertainty,” Malvolio in “Twelfth Night,” Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” and Beverly Carlton in “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”

Most recently, Church appeared as Pandarus in “Troilus and Cressida” at Theatre for a New Audience in New York.

Church is an emeritus dean of the National Theatre Conservatory at the DCTC (where he served from 1989-96), and is an associate artist, acting. In 1998, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Denver University.

Anedcdotes and quotes

*Former DCTC actor Jamie Horton: “He was a dear friend, a consummate man of theater and a treasured friend.”

*DCPA founder Donald Seawell: “When I created The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Tony was a natural — both as a leading actor and as Dean of our National Theatre Conservatory. He remained a vital part of our theatre company until his retirement. His skill, his vivacity, his knowledge and his dedication have meant so much in the growth of the Denver Center Theatre Company and the DCPA.”

*DCPA president Randy Weeks: “It’s a very sad day. For as long as I can remember, I can’t think of the DCTC without thinking of Tony Church.”

*Church had been cast to appear with Archie Smith in the DCTC’s 2004 production of “The Merchant of Venice,” but both men became too ill to perform. “I’ll never forget it, because Archie was in the same hospital as I was, just down the passage,” said Church.

*Church had a heart attack in November 2002 while playing Jodalet in “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Before having triple bypass surgery, he was visited in his Denver hospital by fellow actor Larry Hecht, who was playing gravedigger Mick Dowd in the DCTC’s “A Skull in Connemara. When Church saw Hecht, he shouted, “My God! Did they have to bring in the gravedigger before I am even on the table?”

*Church credited Archie Smith with saving his life after that 2002 heart attack. “We were getting a massage that day, and he was the fellow who called 911,” Church said.

*Joked former DCTC actor Aaron Serotsky at the time of the 2004 staging of “Love’s Labor’s Lost”: “We understand that Tony actually wrote much of the Shakespeare canon. We joke with him that he was in the King’s Men (the most popular acting company in England in 1600). But seriously, he’s a legend. I mean, he worked with Dame Edith Evans in the 1940s. For him and Archie Smith to have ended up here in Denver is amazing for us, and it’s remarkable that this place has made that happen. Just to be around them both is a treat and every day a lesson.”

*Tony Church and Paul Scofield performed in “King Lear” before Yugoslavian president Josip Tito in 1964.

*In 1968, Church was booed off a Broadway stage – for all the right reasons. “I played a bishop called George Bell in the Broadway production of Rolf Hochhuth’s ‘Soldiers,” ‘ he told The Post in 2004. “There was a three-quarters-of-an-hour scene in which the Bishop was attacking Winston Churchill about the pattern bombing leading up to the bombing of Dresden. With my last line, I accused Churchill of being a traitor to his own people, and I was heckled all the way off the stage.”

*Church played the Duke in the RSC’s 1960 production of “The Merchant of Venice” starring Peter O’Toole as Shylock. “It was O’Toole’s second professional job,” Church said. “On the night of the first preview, he came into the trial scene with his back to the audience and bowed to me. Now, as he bowed, he lifted up his dress to reveal to me that he had nothing on underneath.”

*Church bowed at the DCTC in 1990’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” He considered his favorite roles in Denver to be “The
Dresser” (1996), “Taking Leave” (1998) and “The Tempest” (1999).

* Horton: “One of my favorite memories was when we were in ‘Misalliance’ together. Tony came backstage after a scene, and he walked into the dressing room as excited as I have ever seen him. He said, ‘I’ve don it! ‘I’ve done a 360-degree take!’ That’s when you get applause after a line and do a 360-degree acknowledgement.”

*Director Anthony Powell: “And as if his talent and humanity weren’t enough, his trove of backstage stories is phenomenal.”

*Church appeared in seven productions of “The Merchant of Venice.” alone.

*Glenda Jackson played Ophelia to Tony Church’s Polonius in a 1965 RSC production of “Hamlet.”

*Church toured with the RSC’s “He That Plays the King” in 1976 with future ‘Star Trek’ star Patrick Stewart.

*He was Christopher Leo’s carpool pal for “Cyrano.” “I looked forward to his stories as much as I enjoyed performing the show,” he said. “He spoke of that tradition many of my generation have always respected and revered: the old English repertory theater. He regaled me with stories and impressions (actual vocal and physical impressions) of Sir John Gielgud, with whom he had worked, at his height.”

Tony Church: 62 years on the stage

Highlights of Tony Church’s acting and directing career:

1941: First role, at age 11, is playing Lorenzo in his school
production of “The Merchant of Venice.”

1951: Malvolio in “Twelfth Night” at Cambridge, with John Barton
as Orsino.

1990: Director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Romeo and
Juliet.”

1990: Beverly Carlton in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” his first
role for the DCTC and his only time ever directed by then-artistic director Donovan
Marley.

2000: “Give’ Em a Bit of Mystery,” a one-man show he conceived
and performed at the DCTC, tracing Shakespearean actors from
Richard Burbage to John Gielgud.

2004: Cast as Tubal and The Doge of Venice in the DCTC’s “The Merchant of
Venice,” in what was to be his eighth appearance in a production of that play. But he became too ill to perform and was replaced by a student actor.

"Hadestown," singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell's Broadway debut, earned a leading 14 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, followed by the jukebox musical "Ain't Too Proud," built around songs by the Temptations, which received a dozen nominations.